A Thorny Crosshare
by Dongyrn
Summary: Coco Adel is a strong, confident leader who vigilantly looks out for her team, always putting their needs before her own. But then a certain Bunny Faunus starts to break her walls down. Companion to 'A Thorny Tangled Triangle' and my July MonCon entry.


**A/N:** This is a companion piece to my fluffy Purruby story, _A Thorny Tangled Triangle_. It does not really need read beforehand to enjoy this one-shot.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily the glorious minds at Rooster Teeth, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing.

* * *

Coco sat on the edge of her bed, carefully watching her teammate get dressed for her date. Chocolate brown eyes regarded the Rabbit Faunus warmly from behind ever-present designer shades.

"Are you sure about this?" she pressed one more time.

"Yes, Coco, I am," Velvet replied absently as she held up two dresses. "I've narrowed it down to these two. Which one do you like?"

"The brown gingham. I keep telling you to toss that plaid monstrosity."

Velvet peered between the two dresses in confusion. "Um, they're both plaid."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, they're… The one in your right hand, okay? And I truly despair of you ever developing a fashion sense."

The other brunette shrugged and tossed the rejected dress onto her bed. Coco made a mental note to dispose of it when she left.

"Why is it you're so concerned?" Velvet asked, shedding her tee shirt and shorts.

Coco turned her gaze to the side. "I just… Look, I know Weiss is a friend of yours, though I'm not quite sure how that happened…"

"We've talked quite a bit about Faunuskind," her friend answered, voice muffled as she slipped the dress over her head. "She was trying to learn more to be a better friend and teammate to Blake."

"And she couldn't talk to Blake?"

"Well, I think she was a bit embarrassed about it… In any case, you know me, I would never assume she was anything like her family name would imply, and I think that was perhaps the reason she approached me…"

Coco nodded slowly, risking a peek at the kind-hearted Faunus girl who was now brushing her hair out, long furry ears standing tall atop her head. "I just don't want you being taken advantage of, okay? I mean, do you even like her like that? She was the one to ask _you_ out..."

"I don't know," Velvet shrugged. "I can't really feel that way about a person unless I already have some sort of… connection with them, you know? So this is just for us to get to know each other better, see if there's anything there."

"Oh," she murmured, looking down at the floor. "Okay, then… Well, good luck."

"Thanks, Coco." Velvet pulled her flats onto her feet and paused by her team leader to give her a brief but warm hug. "Be back later tonight, okay? Don't wait up."

"Sure thing," she replied, returning the hug. Of course she'd be waiting up, she looked out for all of her team and would want to make sure she made it home alright.

And there were absolutely no ulterior motives whatsoever there. No indeed.

When the door closed behind the brunette, Coco sighed and flipped her legs around on the bed so that she could recline against her pillows.

"This sucks," she whispered to herself.

So what if the Rabbit Faunus girl was criminally adorable? So what if she sometimes had dreams about the two of them, dreams which made her wake up blushing from the intimacy of them? And so what if those luscious brown bunny eyes of hers just melted her into a gooey little pile whenever they were trained upon her? She'd suppressed her feelings for over a year now, and would continue to do so.

The door opened to reveal the third member of her little family unit. Dark-skinned and athletically lean, Fox sauntered in and shot her a smirk.

"Lounging about today?"

Coco absent-mindedly flipped him off, causing the blind man to bark out a laugh.

"Fine, I get it, you're in another funk. Just gonna grab my workout bag and leave you to brood."

"I don't _brood_ ," Coco scowled irritably.

"Sure you don't, oh fearless leader," Fox chuckled over his shoulder as he departed once more.

She rolled her eyes at the man's customary antics, though her thoughts quickly turned back to their original topic.

Sure, it would be nice to actually unburden herself and express her feelings to the Faunus girl. But that would cause so many problems, within the team especially…

Wouldn't they?

Coco furrowed her brow, irritated that she'd even let her musings meander down that path. _And no, I am_ _ **not**_ _brooding._

But it didn't matter, really. She was the Team Leader. The Den Mother, the Big Sister. Her team came first, always, their well-being and their happiness.

And, Dust-damn-it-all, she was going to be happy for Velvet.

Even if a little part inside of her was dying at the thought of her with someone else.

Hours later, she lay in her bed, dressed in her designer nightgown that was both fashionable and comfortable, two words that rarely went together. Both Yatsuhashi and Fox were asleep on the other side of the room, snoring softly.

Her eyes, absent their usual concealing armor as was common only at such times, restlessly roamed around the ceiling, tracing patterns amongst the tiles. They snapped to the side as she heard the quiet _click_ of the door unlocking, Velvet's silhouette soon slipping inside thereafter.

She waited until the Rabbit Faunus was dressed in her pajamas before she spoke up.

"How'd it go?" she inquired softly.

Velvet froze at the sound, but then hung her head down. The brunette changed course from her own bed to sit on the edge of Coco's.

"It didn't," she replied in a whisper.

"What? Did she stand you up, or…?"

"No, nothing like that." Velvet turned her face away, but she caught sight of her glistening cheek in the moonlight cast from the window. "There was just nothing there, for either of us."

"Oh, honey," Coco breathed sympathetically.

Velvet hiccuped slightly. "I mean, we're still friends and all, I just… I had a good feeling this time, you know?"

Coco sat up, wrapping her arms around her friend comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Velvet whispered. "Me, too."

They sat like that for some time, Coco offering what comfort she could to her friend. And all the while, another little part of her brain was really enjoying this contact, as well as secretly jumping for joy that the date hadn't gone well.

She was rather disgusted by that little part of her.

All too soon, Velvet gave her arms a squeeze before slipping out of the embrace.

"Good night, Coco."

"Night, Velv."

She listened to her friend fall asleep, once more on her back and tracing patterns on the tiles above her head.

Sleep was a long time coming for her that night.

o o o

Perhaps a week later, Coco was at her desk, finishing up yet another essay for Professor Port, this one on the tactics involved with a four-person team against a set mixed conglomeration of Grimm, including Boarbatusks, Beowolves, and Creeps. _At least no aerial threats to deal with this time,_ she thought to herself wryly, briefly reminiscing upon one encounter she and her team had with a flock of Griffons. _Tough little buggers._

Her musings were interrupted by the soft clearing of a throat behind her. "Coco, are you busy?"

Coco looked over her shoulder. Velvet was standing there, wearing the same gingham sundress as she did on her date. _It really does look good on her._ She gave herself a little shake, glancing aside to note the late hour.

"Nah, not really," she yawned, stretching. "I think I'm really to leave off on this for the night."

"'Bout damn time," Fox snarked from his desk across the room. "Your teeth grinding was starting to make me nuts."

Coco plucked a pencil off of her desk and unerringly threw it at her teammate's head without even looking his way. Of course he just as deftly caught it, adding it to the stack in an already-overfilled mug emblazoned with the crosshair logo of a popular Dust ammunition supplier.

"You have been working most diligently today," Yatsuhashi agreed solemnly, his low voice reverberating in Coco's chest. "I'd say you were due a break."

"Fine, I'm stopping, okay?" Coco snorted irritably as she stood, stretching once more to her full height. She twisted to each side, sighing in satisfaction at the pops her spine made. "So what's up, bun-bun?"

"Oh, well…" Velvet looked down at her feet consideringly. "I was wondering if you might accompany me on my walk tonight?"

Coco paused in her stretches, regarding her teammate levelly. The brunette girl often took walks around the campus late at night, just to relax or de-stress. But usually only when something had been bothering her.

"What's going on?" she asked sharply. "That idiot Cardin harassing you again?"

"Would've thought he learned his lesson the last time," Fox chuckled in amusement. "Told 'im the next time he'd be in traction for a month."

"No, we agreed I'd get to stomp on him this time," Coco argued.

"You already broke that other kid's nose, what's-his-name, the one with the stupid-looking mohawk."

"That was kid's stuff! I wanna stomp on someone!"

Yatsuhashi sighed heavily, murmuring under his breath. Coco only caught the word 'bloodthirsty', which caused her to grin widely.

"Oh, don't pretend you didn't enjoy holding him up by the scruff of his neck while Fox had his fun."

"You guys!" Velvet finally broke in. "Nothing's wrong! Nobody's been harassing me, and even if they were, I can handle myself just fine!"

"I know you can, sweetie," Coco replied soothingly. "Sorry, you know we're just a little…"

"Overprotective?" Velvet interjected archly.

"I was gonna say vigilant," she mumbled abashedly.

"Oooh, lookit our glorious leader with the big vocabulary," Fox snickered.

As Coco sent over another graphite projectile to add to the stockpile, she smiled warmly at her friend who was still standing in the middle of the room expectantly. "Yeah, sure, I'll come with. Just let me get my boots on."

Shortly thereafter, with a gentle reminder from Yatsuhashi to take their scrolls, and another from Fox to call them if they intended to get into any brawls that evening, the two girls were heading out of their dorm and into the night air. It was still pleasant out, Spring finally making an appearance after an admittedly mild Winter.

"Did you want to talk about something, Velv?" she asked quietly, noting that her friend was acting even more reticent than usual.

"Not yet," the brunette replied softly, leading them towards the landing pads. It was late enough that there were no more scheduled flights between Beacon and Vale, so the area was as still as she'd ever seen it.

A few minutes later and they were settled onto a bench, looking out from the cliffs and towards Vale itself.

She tried to relax somewhat, knowing that whatever was on her friend's mind would be revealed soon enough. She'd had plenty of experience waiting, growing up in the Adel household cultivated such tendencies. The family dynasty, built upon her grandfather's impeccable fashion sense and remarkable success in the textiles industry, was a force to be reckoned with. Her mother was the self-proclaimed matriarch of the Adel clan, and she ruled with an iron grip.

You waited upon her pleasure, or you risked the sharp edge of the matronly woman's tongue. An experience nobody wanted to experience more than once.

So she sat as contentedly as she could, waiting on Velvet to speak. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside that cute little head, and numerous worries began to gnaw away at her psyche. Anything from newfound insecurity to another upcoming date, and she began to involuntarily fidget in her seat.

"Can I ask you something, Coco?"

The fashionista almost jumped at the softly-spoken words, but managed to still herself into some semblance of her usual confident and unflappable facade.

"You know you always can."

Velvet glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, her face illuminated by the distant lights of the city, one long furry ear erect and the other tilted slightly down. The sight almost took Coco's breath away, which was why she had so arduously tried to avoid looking at the brunette.

 _Dust, she is so beautiful…_

"Um, so…" Velvet briefly chewed on her bottom lip. Were Coco any less than what she was, an impenetrable bastion of tightly-controlled emotions, she would have let out an involuntary squeal at the sight.

"Do you… Do you like boys or girls?"

Coco stared at her friend blankly. _Well, that was unexpected._

"Er…" She turned, then, to look back out across the city, gathering her thoughts and self-control. "I suppose it never really mattered to me. I've had relationships with both in the past."

"I see."

As she clenched her hands together in her lap, Coco desperately tried to channel some of Yatsuhashi's tranquility. "W- Why do you ask?"

"You've just never, um… showed any interest in anyone before," the Faunus girl stated somewhat weakly.

 _Only because I never openly displayed it._ "Oh, well, okay. Er, was that it?"

"No…"

Coco smiled gently at her friend's efforts to dance around what was truly bothering her. "What's on your mind?"

"You."

She blinked her eyes uncertainly. "Pardon?"

"Well… I was wondering, um…" Velvet coughed lightly into her fist. "What… What do you think about, um… us?" The last word was uttered with a squeak, causing Coco to glance aside once more. The Rabbit Faunus' face was brightly flushed.

"Uhhh…" _Oh, yes, that sounded quite intelligent, Adel. Can we work on the coherency, please?_

She cleared her throat and tried once more. "Are you... That is, do you mean, er…" _Dust-dammitall, woman..._

"I'm trying to ask what your feelings are for me," Velvet broke in, her voice firmer now. She turned in her seat to regard the taller woman intently. "Do you think something might come of the both of us? Together?"

"Velv… I mean... " She closed her eyes. "Look, relationships within a team are always a bad idea. What if something were to happen between us to strain the team dynamic?"

"I believe we are both too mature to allow something like that to happen," Velvet replied reasonably. Now that the discussion was underway, the brunette seemed to have regained control of her confidence.

Conversely, Coco's was rapidly draining away.

"Well, then, what about Fox and Yatsu?"

"They'd want us to be happy," Velvet smiled.

"But…"

"Coco." She started slightly at the warm hand Velvet laid across her arm. "I'm hearing a lot of excuses from you on why we shouldn't have a relationship, but not once have you said that you simply aren't attracted to me."

Velvet reached up and pulled Coco's shades down on her nose, much to her consternation. She knew what her eyes would look like right now, wild and panicked.

"So, please answer me this," Velvet murmured sweetly. "How do you feel about me?"

"I- I- I-" Coco blushed at her uncharacteristic stammering, feeling herself come apart at the seams as she defensively pushed her sunglasses back up into place. "L- Look, Velv, I just… I mean… Y- Yeah you're… I mean, I… We…"

Velvet seemed to understand, in the midst of all that incomprehensible jumble of sentiment, what she was trying to express. Granted, she was failing miserably, but the Faunus girl was empathetic like nobody she'd ever seen before.

With a serene smile, the brunette leaned over and brushed her lips against her cheek.

And Coco, much to her mortification, let out an unintentional whimper.

The brunette reclined back again, blinking her eyes as her smile widened. "Oh, well, _that_ was a nice reaction."

The way that the smaller girl purred, one would have thought her to be a Cat Faunus.

Coco sighed irritably, though mostly it was directed upon herself. "Stop trying to seduce me with your adorable Bunny Faunus ways," she grumbled.

"Oh, sweetie," Velvet snickered, "you haven't even _begun_ to see me try to seduce you yet."

 _I am so screwed,_ Coco gulped.

Though, truthfully, she really couldn't find it in herself to be all that dismayed by the notion.

o o o

The next morning dawned bright and early, much to her chagrin. She'd spent much of the night lying awake in her bed yet again in what was becoming a rather disturbing trend. She and Velvet hadn't spoken much more on the subject of the two of them, heading back to the dorm once the brunette Faunus was satisfied that she'd gotten the answer to her original question.

Coco groaned quietly as she rolled away from the too-bright sunshine filtering in through the open window. _Though I should be absolutely ecstatic, all I can feel is… confused. What should I do here?_ She frowned, keeping her eyes closed still. _What's the best thing for the team? Can I put Velvet's desires above the welfare of the three of them?_

She quite adamantly refused to even consider her own needs or desires. Truthfully, the gatling-gun-toting team leader had become quite adept at that skill over the past two years.

"You're awfully cute when you're thinking hard," a soft, melodic voice murmured from close by. "Never really noticed that before."

She slowly peeled her eyes open to regard the smirking Rabbit Faunus perched on her own bed and regarding her fondly. "Ungh."

"How very coherent of you," Velvet giggled. "Fox and Yatsu already went off to breakfast and then class."

"Time?" she grunted with only marginally better lucidity.

"Just after nine." Velvet adroitly hopped from her bed to Coco's, only bouncing her enough to rise a few inches off the mattress and not spill her onto the ground. "So, let's discuss today."

"O- Okay?" Coco's brow's furrowed. "Need shades."

"You need your sunglasses to have a discussion with me about what we're doing today?" Velvet asked humorously.

"Don't question my logic. Shades."

"Yes, ma'am." Velvet obediently, if a tad sassily, handed her the shades from the endtable. Coco grunted her thanks as she slipped them on.

"Right. So what was this about today?"

"We," the other brunette declared merrily, "are going on a date."

Coco was quite happy that her shades were firmly in place to hide her eyes.

"We are?"

"Yep!"

"Er… Velv, don't we have classes?"

"We do," Velvet confirmed, smirking widely as she bent over so that her face was only a few inches from hers. "And we're going to skip them."

"Um." She couldn't have summoned a rational thought right then if her life had depended on it.

"And," Velvet continued, her brown eyes dancing with humor, "that wasn't a 'no'."

"Um." _Yep, two for two there._

"So get dressed, sleepyhead, we got an airbus to catch!"

As soon as that annoyingly adorable face no longer filled her vision, Coco blinked her eyes uncertainly. _How does she keep doing that to me?_

"Wait, where are we going?" she asked belatedly.

"The carnival!"

"Oh." _Seriously, when did I lose control here? Did I ever have control?_

An hour later and she was walking next to her… date... towards the landing platform. She wore lighter clothes than usual, a stylish short brown skirt with a low-cut tan blouse that she'd been wanting to show off. Not that she was showing off for her… date. No, nothing of the sort.

At the thought of the Rabbit Faunus, she glanced aside at the other brunette. She wore an orange sundress that Coco had picked out for her on one of the infrequent shopping trips that she'd managed to cajole the smaller woman into attending. It showed off a good deal of skin, including Velvet's nicely muscled legs that were further accentuated by the brown heels she wore with considerable style.

"Are you checking me out?" Velvet asked humorously, without looking her way.

Coco's head snapped forward. "Nope."

Giggling, the Faunus girl's hand snuck out and grabbed hold of her own. She almost tripped and fell flat on her face at the unexpected contact, causing Velvet to giggle even louder.

It didn't help that she really, really liked her giggle. Didn't help her situation in the slightest.

And she'd gone for perhaps another few yards before it suddenly occurred to her that she was holding the hand of her crush, on their way to a date.

Of course, that caused her to stumble once more.

"You're usually not this clumsy," Velvet giggled once more. "You okay?"

"Um, y- yeah, fine…" _I am such a bloody mess._

But then Velvet pulled them to a halt with a squeak of surprise. "Oh, shoot…"

Coco looked over towards where the other girl's attention was riveted. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Blake were heading for the same platform they were, which was surprising as they should have had classes as well.

"I don't want them to see… us," Velvet hurriedly explained. "I mean… I don't want to hurt Weiss' feelings if this gets out, you know?"

She gave the Faunus girl's hand a squeeze before letting go and squaring her shoulders. "Don't worry, bun-bun," she said confidently. "I got this." _Finally, something I can handle._

Taking another couple of steps forward, Velvet staying protectively in her shadow, she called out to the trio firmly. "And where are you all off to?"

Ruby let out a startled _eep_ as she spun around, hands raised defensively like some sort of cheesy action vid star. Blake and Pyrrha, equally startled, turned but without the theatrics.

"O- Oh, hello Coco, Velvet," Pyrrha stammered, rubbing the back of her neck as she smiled hesitantly. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

 _On the defensive already, excellent._ "Yes, yes it is," Coco replied levelly. "Pity underclassmen have classes right about now, though, isn't it?"

"Oh, they do?" Ruby squeaked out. "I mean, we do? Oh, ha ha, yeah, so we do… um… Yeah, I got nothing here."

"Are you about to tell on us?" Blake asked the second-year girl calmly.

"No, no… not right away, at least…" Coco gave them a smirk. "You all have a nice day, now." With that the beret-wearing girl strode off with Velvet in tow.

"What was that all about?" the shorter brunette whispered as they rounded one of the waiting airships.

"Just throwing them off the scent. They'll be too worried about us turning them in to wonder what we were doing out here."

"Couldn't we have just left?"

"Nah, by that point they could have easily seen us. Better to go on the offensive."

"Oh…" Velvet nodded consideringly. "That was really brilliant, Coco." She sidled up to her and wrapped herself around Coco's arm.

"Y- Yeah, um… th- thanks." _Annnd there we go again…_

They rode an airbus down and into Vale, keeping an eye out for the trio of first-years who were surely out on their own date. Eventually, though, they found themselves in the carnival itself, their hands once more clasped together.

"So why today?" Coco asked curiously, once she was certain she was used enough to the sensation of holding Velvet's hand that she wouldn't turn into a babbling mess anytime soon. "Won't the carnival still be in town tonight?"

"I know you're still a bit… uncertain about us," Velvet began after a moment's pause. "I didn't think you'd want to do this while there were other students around to see us."

"Oh." That was actually rather considerate of her teammate, though it subsequently made her feel like a total tool for not being able to actually figure out what the Dust she was doing.

They stood in line for a rollercoaster, still holding hands, as the shorter brunette turned towards her, eyes alight with curiosity. "So, when did you first feel attracted towards me?"

"What?" she squawked. "I- I- I mean, what kinda question is…?"

"I'm just curious. I could tell it was there, the attraction, though if it's been awhile you've done a really good job of hiding it." Velvet hesitantly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Has it been, I mean-"

"About a year," Coco cut in with an explosive sigh.

"Oh, sweetie…"

"I just… I don't know what to do here," she admitted exasperatedly. "I'm with you, and everything I built up, all the walls… They just don't mean anything anymore, you know? And I keep thinking things I shouldn't be, like putting my own feelings before what's good for the team, but I don't even know what's good for the team anymore, or-"

She clamped her jaw shut as she realized that she'd started to ramble a bit maniacally. Glancing at her companion in concern, she was shocked to see the Faunus' eyes shimmering slightly with unshed tears.

"Let's skip this ride," Velvet murmured, giving her hand a tug and pulling her out of line. "I want to ride the ferris wheel with you."

Coco nodded, keeping her lips firmly sealed. _Great, now she likely thinks of me as some airheaded girl who can't keep her shit together long enough to-_

"And stop berating yourself. We'll talk more when we get on the ride."

"O- Okay…" _Damn, she's good._

They paused at a discreet distance away as they noted a flash of bright red hair towards the front of the line for the ferris wheel. Sure enough, the tall redhead was accompanied by both Blake and Ruby as she boarded the ride. Giving it a few seconds, the pair then hurried up and into the almost nonexistent line, soon thereafter getting a car all of their own.

As soon as they were seated, Velvet scooted over and pressed her leg up against Coco's, quickly reaching over to clasp one of her hands in both of her own.

"I need to tell you something, Coco," she began earnestly in her melodic voice. "I have always looked up to you, your strength and courage and confidence… It made me want to be a better person, a better Huntress. But then, when I was lying in bed after that date with Weiss, I realized something."

"O- Okay," Coco stammered, swallowing around her dry throat. "Um, what?" _Gods how does she keep_ _ **doing**_ _this to me, tying me up in knots?_

"I realized," Velvet continued softly, "that the safest and warmest I've ever felt was when I was being held by you. And that what I've been looking for all this time was right in front of me all along." The Rabbit Faunus giggled and ducked her head, long floppy ears bouncing from the motion. "I know it sounds corny and cliched, but it's true."

 _Oh, sweet mother of Oum, I can't… I just can't fight it anymore._

"Velvet," she began hoarsely. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Do you know why I wear my shades all the time?"

"Because it makes you look fashionable and cool?" the other brunette smirked.

"W- Well, y- yeah, I mean… Ugh, will you stop doing that to me?"

"Doing what?"

"Making my brain all jumbled and… incoherent."

"I'm sorry," Velvet replied contritely, though the smirk remained firmly in place. "Please continue."

Coco sighed as she turned forward to gaze out across the water surrounding Vale. "When I was younger, I was always complimented on my eyes. People said I had 'the most expressive eyes', and it's true, I can't… I let everything show through my eyes, just can't help it. So I keep them covered, keep my feelings to myself, y'know?"

"Okay," the Faunus girl murmured, nodding slowly. "I think I understand."

With another sigh, Coco slipped her shades off, setting them next to her on the seat. She turned resolutely and faced the woman she'd fallen so very hard for. "So what do you see?" she whispered, desperation lacing her words.

Velvet gazed at her wondrously, releasing her hand so that both of hers could reach up and cup the fashionista's face. "Oh, sweetie…" she breathed. Ever so slowly she leaned in, pulling Coco down towards her.

When their lips met, she felt as if the dam inside of her finally broke. Her arms wrapped around the smaller girl, molding their bodies together as she deepened the kiss, pouring out all of her love and affection that she'd kept bottled up for so long. Velvet moaned softly, parting her lips as the kiss became something almost frantic as the two of them savored the taste of each other, neither one battling for dominance.

She couldn't have said how long they remained like that, locked in each other's embrace, until she heard a rough clearing of a throat. The two sprang apart, confused and a bit embarrassed, to spy the ride operator watching the couple humorously as their car had reached the ground once more.

"Sorry to break you two up," he mentioned genially. "But you gotta get back in line if you wanna ride again."

With an uncharacteristic giggle, Coco shook her head, snatching up her shades and affixing them in place once more. "No, sorry, we'll get out now…"

The pair of them sauntered through the carnival aimlessly with their arms around each other, not really with another destination in mind. Coco's mind was positively euphoric with the recent memory of their first kiss. _Damn well gonna make sure it's not the last, either._

"Feeling a bit better about us, now?" Velvet asked quietly, her tone dancing with humor.

"Mmhmm," she murmured in reply. Turning her head slightly, she pressed a kiss in between her Faunus ears, eliciting that fabulous giggle that she never tired of hearing. "I love you, Velv, been in love with you for some time. I can finally admit it, now."

"Well, I knew you'd come around," the other brunette smiled widely, turning her own head to give her a quick but sweet kiss on the lips. "And I think I might have loved you for some time, too."

"Well, you should have mentioned you were such a fantastic kisser," Coco smirked. "Would have eased this whole thing considerably."

Velvet giggled once more as they began to head towards the carnival exit. "Yes, well, I was saving that little tidbit. Among other things."

Her giggles increased in volume at Coco's bright blush. "O- Oh, um, I s- see…"

 _Dust damn it all, how does she_ _ **do**_ _that?_

o o o

Several nights later, the team was gathered in their dorm room. The new couple was still keeping their relationship a secret, Velvet honoring Coco's wishes to wait for an opportune time to reveal things to their other teammates.

Fox was on his bed, reading a braille book on dust mechanics, while Yatsuhashi sat at the foot of his own bed with his legs crossed and eyes closed, meditating as was his wont this time of the day. Velvet was at her desk working on a paper, while Coco reclined against her headboard, trying to read an adventure novel she'd been wanting to sample that Blake had actually recommended to her.

 _Trying_ being the operative word.

She and Velvet kept sneaking unobtrusive glances at each other, sharing furtive smiles and the occasional winks.

After perhaps a half hour of tension so thick you could have sliced through it with Fox's gauntlet blades, he sighed, closing his book and turning towards Yatsuhashi. "I'm gonna tell 'em."

"It is not our concern," the giant man rumbled without opening his eyes.

"Don't care, gonna tell 'em anyways." The rust-haired boy faced Coco and Velvet next, a perceptive smirk on his face. "We already know about the two of you."

Coco swallowed around her suddenly dry mouth. "What are you talking about, Foxy?"

"You two. Dating. So stop trying to hide it already, it's embarrassing."

She tried one last time to salvage the situation. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied loftily.

Her dark-skinned teammate turned the Look upon her, the Fox-patented look that said are-you-really-trying-to-pull-that-shit-with-me. It was as ruthlessly effective as it usually was.

"Look," Coco defended weakly. "We just… I mean…"

Velvet sighed, evidently having decided she'd let her girlfriend flounder about enough. She got up from her desk chair and sat next to the fashionista, leaning up against her arm. "Yes, Fox, we're dating."

"See?" Fox smirked. "Was that so hard?"

"Apparently," Coco grumbled. It was difficult to be ornery, though, with Velvet's warm body pressed up against her side.

"Just keep in mind I can hear _everything_ , okay?" The smirk on their friend's face was widening by the second as he got up from his bed and headed towards their bathroom. "So no kinky stuff when you're showering together."

"I… What…?" Coco sputtered indignantly. "I don't even…"

Velvet reached up and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

"Oh my Oum, Coco," Fox snickered from the doorway to the restroom. "I can hear you blush!"

"What? No you can't, you ass!" When did she so utterly lose control of the situation, much less her own team?

"Yep, can so!" Fox sang out merrily as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm gonna kill him," Coco growled.

"No, you're not," Velvet replied soothingly, caressing her cheek.

 _Nope, not going to fall for those wiles right now._ "I've got the money, I can pay to replace the door, I'm gonna break it down and then- _mmph_!"

Her mini-rant was cut off by the simple expedient of Velvet's next kiss, which was pressed firmly against her lips. All coherent thought fled from her brain, and she wrapped her arms around the giggling Faunus girl and pulled her into her lap. Velvet eagerly parted her lips so that their tongues might brush up against each other's, and the rest of the world just faded away into insignificance.

All the while Yatsuhashi continued his meditation atop his bed, eyes closed and posture unchanging. If one looked quite closely, though, one might spy the faintest hint of a smile on his normally stoic features.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I finally got around to doing a Monthly Fanfiction and Fanart Contest (MonCon for short) entry over on Reddit. The prompt was for fluff, and I just couldn't resist the pull. Coco Adel really is one of my very fav characters, I've just never been sure I could do such a, in my opinion, complex character justice. This is dedicated to **thearrowman, MakaS0ul,** **The Reader of Fanfiction** , and many other readers who put the idea in my head and wouldn't let it go, it's been sitting around for awhile now and I thought the July MonCon was the perfect opportunity to finally put it together.

Also, in case it wasn't clear in the story, I portray Velv as being demi and Coco as bi. Which goes a ways to explain the awkwardness of the date with Weiss, who is also demi in my _A Thorny Tangled Triangle_ story. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the fluff!

Stay shiny!


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